2020/2021 Football Kenya Federation Premier League champions Tusker are set to go for a week long preseason tour in the coastal city of Mombasa as the club embarks on intensifying their preparations ahead of the team’s return to the prestigious CAF Champions League next month after a four year absence from the continental tournament.Barely two weeks after wrapping up their twelfth league crown to jointly become the second most successful club in the country, the Brewers have had almost next to no time to quickly shift their sights back to the playing field where they have no room for slacking especially in the knockout preliminary rounds of the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League.Nuff said!! pic.twitter.com/5dUaS7TmnE— 🏆Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) August 22, 2021 With Tusker set to play the first leg of the champions league preliminary round against Djibouti’s AS Arta Solar & on September 10, head coach Robert Matano has outlined the critical role the preseason tour plays in his sides chances of advancing to the next round as the club needs to quickly familiarize the entirely new playing unit that has been assembled at the team.“The week in Mombasa will be very vital for us because we have new players who need to gel and integrate with the team. It will also be an opportunity for us to work on what we need to do to be ready for the first match of the Champions League,” Matano is quoted on the club’s website.Tusker draw Arta Solar of Djibouti, Gor Mahia get a bye to second preliminary roundBefore travelling to Mombasa, the team, on Saturday, lost 1-0 in a friendly match against the national team Harambee Stars which is preparing to play Uganda in a Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier scheduled for Thursday. Matano went to call on his side to use the Mombasa tour as a chance to get prepared mentally for the immediately demanding schedule.“We started the training on a slow tempo just to make sure the players are not pushed too much because we have also come from a very tight season. Now we need to focus in Mombasa and get everyone’s mind ready for the massive task ahead of us,” the coach remarked.📸| Photos from our training match against Harambee Stars at Kasarani yesterday.#KenyaMilele #Brewers4Life pic.twitter.com/cLqWe8hl0R— 🏆Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) August 29, 2021 According to the club, coach Matano was using the match to test some of his new players as well as get the team ready for Mombasa. The new faces at Tusker include Patrick Matasi, Brian Bwire, Kalos Kirenge, Clyde Senaji, Charles Momanyi, Daniel Sakari, Teddy Osok, Shami Mwinyi, John Njuguna, Deogrotus Ojok, Joshua Ibrahim, and Tyson Otieno among others.
